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THE LIST

CLEAN UP, PAINT UP, FIX UP
Good news for retailers: Two of three homeowners actively desire home improvements.

Scarborough Research, New York, NY, has found the percentage of homeowners who performed a home improvement project during the past year has increased 18 percent since 2001, and that 65 percent of America’s homeowners invested in home improvement projects during the past 12 months.

Additionally, the analysis found that homeowners are focusing more inside the home. Scarborough’s recent analysis finds that interior paint/wallpaper is the leading home improvement project. Thirty-five percent of homeowners currently cite this as an enhancement they have made during the past year. Other interior projects that have increased since 2001 are bathroom remodeling (27-percent increase), kitchen remodeling (25-percent increase) and carpeting/floor covering (13-percent increase).

The Scarborough analysis also found that Minneapolis, MN, is the top U.S. local market for home improvements, among the 75 markets measured. Almost three-quarters (74 percent) of Minneapolis homeowners conducted home improvement projects during the past year, and they are 13 percent more likely than all homeowners nationally to have done so.